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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-,Sheet 2.

E. B. BENHAM. s TEAM ENGINE.

No. 459,735. Mg'atented Sept. 22,1891.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. E. B. BENHAM.

STEAM ENGINE.

No. 459,735. Patented sept. 2z, 1891.

UNrTnD STATES PAT-ENT OFFICE.

ELIJAH BENHAM, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM e. NicHrrNeALn,

OF SAME PLACE.

STEAM-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,735, dated September 22, 1891.

Application led December 19, 1890. Serial No. 375,256. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELIJAH B. BENHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented new and useful Improvements in Steam-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to steam-engines, the object being to provide an improved conxo struction thereof; and the invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts thereof, all as hereinafter fully described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specication is illustrated a steam engine constructed according to my invention, in which- Figure 1 is a section through the cylinder- 2o head, cylinders, and their inclosing case at right angles to the axial line of the drivingshaft as it appears looking at the front side of the machine. Certain parts, as below fully described, are shown in side view in this ligure 2 5 and others as broken olii. Fig. 2 is a vertical section centrally through the cylinder head, case, and driving-pulley, certain parts being yshown broken off and othersv in side view, about on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isa sectional 3o View of the central portion of the cylinderhead and its case on line 3 3, Fig. 1, illustrating certain steam-conduits communicating with the cylinders. (Not shown in Fig. 2.) Fig. 4L is a plan view of the inner side of that part of the cylinder-head in which the cylinder-ports-are formed, the driving-shaftbeing shown in sect-ion. Fig. 5 is a plan View of a portion of the central part of the frame of the machine and an outer end View of the 4o cylinder containing the pressure and the eX- haust conduits. Fig. G is a rear perspective View o f the machine.

The engine herein described has one main frame element, to which the other parts of .i5 the machine are attached and which is preferably castin a single piece, which comprises a broad-based standard E, a hollow hub F, and acircular plate H, said plate having extending upwardly therefrom a reversing-leo ver standard 1G, having in its upper end a slot, through which a screw works for apurpose below described. The said circular plate H, together with a shallow cup-like front piece 3 and a ring 2, constitutes a cylinderhead case B, of which said plate is the back. The said cup-shaped part 3 and ring 2 are secured, one at the side of the other and to said back H in the positions shown in Figs. 2 and 6, by the screw-bolts 4. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) In the inner wall of said hollow hub 6o F are formed two annular chambers 5 and 6, the chamber 5 being denominated a pressurechamber,7 because it receives the fluid (steam orother element) through the feed-pipe 7 ,which actuates the engine. Said annular chamber 6 is denominated the exhaust-chamber, because it receives the exhaust-fl uid from the cylinders of the engine and the same is discharged therefrom through the exhaust-pipe S. An oil-cup 9 is placed on the end of a pipe 7o 10, which communicates with said feed-pipe 7, and thereby the requisite lubrication for the interior operating parts of the engine is provided for, the lubricating element passing .thereinto with the motor-f1uidfor steam. An 75 oil-cup 12 is attached by a suitable pipe to the front side of the said case B and supplies lubricating material to the operative parts of the machine within said case, as below described. The oil from said cup 12 is per- 8o initted to iiow into said case or cylinder-head chamber, and, falling.,r to the lower part thereof, it is then taken up by the pistons while the cylinder-head revolves and distributed over the border of the piston-track, and at the 8 5 same time the piston-balls become properly lubricated.

A conduit-cylinder 13 (see Figs. 2, 3, and 5) is fixed Within the hollow hub F and extends from the inner rear face or side of said cylin- 9o der-case B, past said exhaustchamber 6,to one side of said pressure-chamber 5, as clearly shown in said figures. Said conduit-cylinder has formed therein a series of siX conduits 14, which extend from one end and communicate with said pressure-chamberyand a series of six conduits 15, which extend from the same end and communicate, as shown in Fig. 3, with said exhaust-chamber 6, the port ends of said conduits being open on the surface, against Ioo which the rotating cylinder-head bears, as below set forth. The outer or port ends of said conduits 1st and 15, twelve in number, are arranged, as shown in Fig. 5, in alternating positions and in a circle concentric with the axial line of the driving-shaft 28, asillustrated in Fig. 5.

Vhen the engine is built upon a suitable larger scale than is here shown, said conduits 14. and 15 may be formed in the casting of said hub F and the construction of said cylinder 13 as aseparate part be avoided. A me tallie piston-track D, preferably of steel, is rigidly secured between said cup-shaped part 3 and ring 2 of the case B by said screws 4. (See Figs. 1 and 2, the latter figure showing said track in side elevation and the former ligure showingit in section.) Said track D is made, preferably, in two sections, which are divided on the line o, Fig. 1, for convenience in assembling with the other parts of the machine. The periphery of said piston-track D is of circular form, secured to and supported by said cylinder-head case B; but its inner border is of sinuous form or having a series of projections and depressions, as shown, whereby is produced thereon a series of inclines, between which and one side of the extremities of the cylinders the pistons are forced, as and for the purpose below described. Said track is located in the machine directly opposite the outer end of the axial line of the cylinders 25, as shown in Fig. 1 and also in Fig. 2, and the operative position of said track circumferentially is one which brings the apexes of the project-ions on its border opposite the spaces s (see Fig. 5) between said pressure and exhaust ports 15 and 14. Thus not until the axial lines of the cylinder shall have passed said apexes can any cylinder take full steam-pressure, whereby the most effective poweris caused to be exerted against the pistons when theybegin to descend an ineline.

Two curved slots 22 (indicated. in dotted lilies in Fig. 1 and partly shown in Fig. G) are formed through the frame plate H, and through said slots are passed two screw-bolts 23, one in each slot, which bolts enter the rear border of the ring 2 and serve to attach the cylinder-head case B to said plate and provide for permitting a certain degree of oscillating movement to said case and the sin nous `piston-track D, which movement is limited by the length of said slots 22. The said screw-bolts 23 are clearlyindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The parts of the machine illustrated in Fig. (i prevent the heads of said bolts from being shown in that figure. The said limited oscillating movement which may be given to said case B is effected bya handlever 17, (see Fig. (5,) which is fixed to or integral with a part of said case. By seizing the upper part ot' said lever 17 and swinging it to the right or the left the apexes of said sinuous border of the piston -track D are caused to assume different positions relative to the pressure and exhaust ports 14 and 15, as indicated by the dotted line fr and the full line yy in Fig. 1, both of which lines indicate the border of said track, against which the pistons engage. Said apexes of the border of the track D occupy positions opposite said spaces s between the pressure and exhaust ports 1&1 and 15 when the cylinder-head is required to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrowin Fig. 1; but to reverse the motion of the head the track is moved or partially rotated, as shown in Fig. 1, to cause the apexes of said ring projections to be brought opposite another series s of spaces between said ports, so that the pistons may act upon the opposite edge of said projections and cause the rotary motion of the cylinder-head to be reversed. The position of said track (shown by the line y in Fig. 1) is that which it occupies to cause the cylinder-head 24; to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrows in said last-named iigure, and to hold the case B and said track in that position thehand-lever 17 is swung and secured in the position shown in Fig. (i. To reverse the rotary motion of the cylinder-head, said lever 17 is swung to the opposite direction or to the right, looking at the engine from the front, thereby bringing the sinuous border of said track to the position shown by said dotted line 'U in Fig. 1. Abinding-screw 30 passes through a slot, as shown, in the standard 16 and screws into said handlever 17, thereby serving to rigidly secure the cylinder-head case B in either of said two positions. A suitable hand-wheel, as shown, is provided for said screw 30 for operating the latter. The border of the ring 2, adjoining the side of plate Il, is preferably ground thereon to make atight joint. The said cylinder-head 24E consists of a central portion, one side of which constitutes a port-face as shown in Fig. 4, from which a series of cylinders 25 radiate, eight cylinders being shown in the drawings as the preferable number. Steam passages or ports 26 are formed in the cent-ral portion of said cylinder-head, one end of which communicates with the inner end of each cylinder, and the opposite ends of said ports are open to the rear side or on the port-face of the cylinder-head in circular arrangement around the axis thereof, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the lower ends of the cylinders being indicated in dotted lines in this last-named ligure. The said cylinder-head is rigidly iixed to one end of the driving-shaft 2S, preferably by screwing the end of said shaft into thehead and screwing a lock-nut 29 onto the outer end of said shaft; but the latter may be secured to said head in any other suitable manner. Said driving-shaft28 extends through said eonduit cylinder 13 and the hollow hub F and projects sufliciently beyond the end ot' the latter to permit of securing rigidly thereon a driving-pulley 2l or a balance-wheel 31, or both, as may be desired. To avoid the multiplication ot' parts, it is preferable that for convenience in packing the shaft 28 near the outer end of said hub F to 'prevent leakage the IOO IIO

v shaft 28 may be substituted therefor.

hub of the balance-wheel or of the pulley, as shown in Fig. 2, should be fitted to enter the outer end of said hub a certain distance and serve as an abutment to retain the packing 18 therein. Said hub of the pulley,being`rigidly fixed to the driving-shaft and having a bearing against the end of hub F, as shown, tends to retain the port-face of the cylinderhead 24 in proper operative relation against the adj'oining` inner end of the conduit-.cylinder. In the absence of said hub a collar on A washer 19 is placed on said shaft between said packing and the pressure-chamber 5,

and a spiral spring 20, placed between theV yend of cylinder 13 and said washer, serves to retain said washer in place. The steampressure in the chamber acts directly'against said Washer to force it and said packing against the end of the hub of pulley 21, and hence the cylinder-head is drawn against that part of the engine in which are the said ports 14 and 15 with aforce substantiallyequivalent to that which the steam escaping from the pressure-ports 14 against the cylinder-head eX- ert-s. Consequently therpressure is balanced and does not act to separate the port parts of the machine and cause leakage. The open ends of said ports 26, at the rear side of the cylinder-head 24, are arranged in a circle coinciding with the circular arrangement of the open ends of the conduits 14 and 15 in the conduit-cylinder 13,as clearlyshown in Figs. 4and 5, and said port-bearingportion of the cylinderhead, has a rotary motion whilebearingagainst the said inner end of the conduit-cylinder. The outer ends of said cylinders 25 are slotted, as shown in Fig. 1, to permit the edge of the piston-track to project thereinto as the cylinder-head rotates, thereby forming pistonguiding parts on each cylinder extending beyond the steam-chambers thereof.

The pistons of the cylinders 25 consist, preferably, of two hardened steel spheres 27, placed in said cylinders one above the other, as shown. The said spheres 27, which may be properly termed ball-pistons, are made by the well-known process of rollin g spherical objects in a cold stateand thereby are produced spheres of uniform diameter and of uncommon smoothness of surface. Said piston-balls and the bore of the cylinders are perfectly adapted to each other as to dimensions, so that said balls have the usual reciprocating movement in the cylinders without undue friction and with no appreciable leakage of steam between them and the cylinderwalls, and during the operation of the engine and while steam-pressure may be cut off from some of the cylinders said piston-balls maintain the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by centrifugal force, and have a movement in the cylinders toward the center of the cylinderhead by contact with the sinuous border of the track D, but only to the extent of the inwardly-projecting portion of said track. The employment of said ball-pistons is advantageous ment of the surface thereof with the walls of the cylinder tends to produce a rotation of the spheres rather than a frictional abrasion, and the outer sphere of each cylinder has a rolling contact with the border of said track D, thus obviating the necessity, as in a cylindricalpiston, o f having a friction-roller in the end of the latter, as shown in Fig. 7. Furthermore, the said piston-balls are advantageous from an economical point of view since they are produced cheaply in large quantities, and in the manufacture of v engines of this construction no machinery need be provided for making said balls. As shown in Fig. 2, where the said sinuous track D is shown in section, it is seen that the edge thereof is grooved on a circle corresponding with that of the piston-balls.

The lubrication of the outer piston-balls, the ends of the cylinders in which they roll, and the edge of the track on which they bear and roll is effected from the oil-cup 12, as above described. By employing two pistonballs the outer one is free to act at the end of the cylinder to bear against the sinuous track, while the inner one closes the portion of the end of thc cylinder below said outer ball.

From the foregoing description of all of the parts of the herein-described engine it will be noted that no valve is required to govern the pressure and exhaust currents in their movements into and out of the cylinders, but the movement of said currents is controlled entirely by the rotary movement of the cylinderhead having the said 4ports 26, which during the rotation of said head communicate. or register alternately with the pressure and exhaust-conduits 14 and 15 in said conduitcylinder 13, and said conduits communicate with the pressure and exhaust chambers 5 and 6, respectively. Fig. 1 has indicated thereon in dotted-line circles near shaft 28 the positions of the saidA pressure and eX- haust ports 14 and 15 at the rear of the cylinder-head.

The operation of the within-described im- IOO IIO

provements is as follows: Referring to Fig. 1

and to two of the cylinders 25 therein, (indicated by w opposite theirextremitiea) it will be noted that with said cylinders in the positions there shown the outer piston-balls thereof are shown as against the border of the sinuous track D to one side of the highest points or apeXes of two of the inclines of said track. The ports 26,which communicate with said two cylinders, are so arranged relative to the pressure-conduits 14 in the conduit-cylinder 18 that when any two ofthe cylinders of the head 24, which are in the same axial line, having their pistons occupying the positions relative to the inclines of the track D that said cylinders indicated by x x occupy, the cylinder-ports 26 thereof are.

ure acts to drive the piston-balls against the inclines ot' said track and cause the cylinderhead to rotate in the direction of the arrows in Fig. l, whereby the ends of the cylinders are forcibly moved in a direction from said inclines. 'When said last-named two cylinders a: m shall have been brought opposite the points yw of said track, the ports of said cylinders @c will have passed onto the space on the end ot' the conduit-cylinder 13 between the pressure and the adjoining exhaust-port, and thereby pressure will be entirely shut oit from these last-named cylinders, such shutting oit of the pressure operating gradually as the piston-balls descend the inclines of the track to the point w. The above-described movement of the ends ot the cylinders indicated by :c n; brings the ends of those indicated by z to positions half-way up the next incline. Thus it is seen that in all the cylinders of the head 2l pressure is given to the pistons when they shall have passed the apex of the inclines of the track, and said pressure follows the pistons as they move toward the lowest point uf of the latter, where the pressure is entirely cut oft', the cylinder-ports now beginning to pass over the exhaust-ports and continue to do so while the pistons move upward on the following incline. The exhaust is entirely shut oft when the pistons reach the apexes of the track-inclines, and upon passing said apexes theybegin to take steam again-that is to say, using the cylinders indicated by :r at their extremities as an illustration during the movement of the outer piston-balls 27 of said two cylinders from the positions in which they are shown in Fig. l relative to the apexes ot the border of the track D by reason of the said peculiar arrangement of the Dressure and exhaust conduits terminating in ports at the outer end of the conduit-cylinder I3, in connection with the ports 2G of the cylinder-head, which communicate with said cylinders. Steam-pressure follows the pistons in said cylinders indicated by a; fc until they arrive at the depressed portion Iw of said track intermedia-tely between the apexes thereof, where the pressure 'is cut off by the movement of the ports 2G from before the pressure-conduits la. From said depressed pointw up to the succeeding apexes of the track the pistons receive very little pressure; but upon passing said apexes, as above described, full pressure is exerted upon them, as described. The latter describes the operation of each pair of the cylinders, which are in axial alignment.

lt will be observed that certain of the pistons-as, i'or instance, those of the two cylinders indicated by n 'n at their extremities in Fig. I-when brought to such nearness to the apexes of the inclines of the track as are the outer piston-balls of said last-named cylinof the track D under the highest pressure. This is so arranged in order that any backpressure occasioned by the movement of the pistons inwardly while moving up the inclines of the track from the exhaust-point may be overcome to a high degree and the regular and forcible movement of the cylinder-head be'not sensibly retarded thereby.

In the operation of the piston-balls, as above described, in connection with the cylinders and the portions of the inclines of the track D against which the outer piston-balls have a bearing force while acting under pressure, said balls, when so bearing against the track, con vert each cylinder in which they so act, so to speak, into a crank-arm, the torce of the pistons thus being exerted near to the extremities of the cylinders or said arm, whereby the power is applied with the most advantageous effect for the rotation of the driving-shaft 2S, to which the cylinderhead is attached.

Vhat I claim as my invention is l. In a steam-engine, a trame, substantially as described, a cylinderhead containing several cylinders radiating from a common center and having steam-passages, one for each cylinder, leading from their bases and terminating in ports on the side of said head, a driving-shaft xed to said head and extending through a hub on said frame, a pressure and an exhaust chamber in said hub, steampassages leading from said chambers and ter minating in ports opposite and communicating with said cylinder-ports, inlet and outlet openings communicating with said chambers, a piston-track having a border ot' sinuous form supported opposite the ends of said cylinders, which track may be turned in its support to lzhange the positions ot the projections on its sinuous border relative to the ports of said steam-passages, and pistons for said cylinders having an engagement against said sinuous track, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. In a steam-engine,a frame,substantially as described, having a cylindrical chamber therein to receive a rotating cylinder-head and having a hub extending from one side of said frame, having therein a pressure and an exhaust chamber, and steam-passages leading from said last-named chambers to the inner side of said frame and terminating in pressure and exhaust ports thereon, a cylinderhead having a port-face on one side thereof and having several cylinders radiating from a common center, each of which has a steampassage extending from its base and terminating in an open port on said port-face, the several cylinder-ports having alternating communication with said pressure and exhaust ports, a driving-shaft fixed to and supporting said head to rotate in said cylinderchamber and extending through said hub, a piston-track having aborder of sinuous form supported in said cylinder-head chamber, and pistons for said cylinders having an engage- IOO IIO

IIS

nient against said track-border, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

3. In a steam-engine, a frame, substantially as described, having a cylindrical chamber therein to receive a rotating cylinder-head,a piston-track of sinuous form supported in said chamber, a cylinder-head having a portface on one side thereof and having several cylinders radiating from a common center, each of which has a steam-passage extending from its base and terminating in an open port on said port-face, and a piston for each of said cylinders, consisting of several spheres Which have a united reciprocating movement in said cylinders dueto steam-pressure and to the presence of said sinuous track, the outer of said spheres having a rolling engagement with said track and the inner one thereof constituting a rolling abutment for said outer sphere, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

4. In a steam-engine, a frame, substantially as described, having a cylindrical chamber therein to receive a rotating cylinder-head and having a hub extending from one side of said frame outwardly, having therein a pressure and an exhaust chamber, afeed and an eX- haust pipe connected to said hub, and a series of steam-.passages extending from said lastnamed chamber and terminating in said cylinder-head chamber in a circle around the axis of said hub,` combined with a cylinderhead having on one side a port-face and containing several cylinders radiating from a common center, steam-passages extending from the bases of said cylinders and terminating in ports on said port-face in circular arrangement around the axis of said head, a shaft extending through said hub, to the inner end of which is fixed said cylinder-head, and pistons for said cylinders, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the rotating cylinder-head of a steam-engine having steamport passages entering the bases of the cylinders thereof, of a sinuous piston track supported opposite the open ends of said cyl- 

